tropical island

i've eaten here 4 times and still not certain what i think. i have had some deliciousfoodhere but also some really not so great food. service has also been mixed. it is worth trying at least once as it's not standard chinese, much more variety on the menu with dishes from different parts of asia/pacific.

this place is da bomb !! thefoodis awesome & we never had a bad dish in all the times we have come here. the staff is friendly & we even got a free cake when we went there for my daughter's birthday !! it was a small dessert nevertheless but it was the thought that counts !! lol

i recommend this restaurant to anyone the enjoy & love chinese fusion dishes which the chef pius is a master of the kitchen !! keep up the great work you guys & thanks for the greatfoodyou bring to victoria !!beep beep

thefoodwas nice but nothing fantastic. service was okay too- could be improved, but the waitress was friendly enough.

we ordered the menu sampler which included spring rolls, pickled vegetables, thai green curry and chicken, tropical beef, vegetables in garlic sauce, rice, and deep fried coconut milk for dessert. i wasn't a fan of their spring rolls and pickled veggies. the tropical beef was good and very flavourful. everything else was just okay.

i probably wont go back again. it wasnt bad, but there are better places in victoria.

no star if that's possible. i took my mom here for her bday. we were seated at a table where at the centre was a huge brown burn mark. it was like eating on a crater. this hole was so deep gandalf the grey is still falling down it. they were not even busy -- all but one other table was occupied.

food was subpar and mediocre, as was the service. the waitress, perhaps self-actualized that she is awful at her job, took it upon herself to make herself scarce. she brought us ourfoodand we never saw her again. 10 minutes turned to 20, which turned to 30. tired of waiting for our bill, i got up and went to the counter, where i found our waitress nestled in a corner chatting on the phone. when i asked for the bill, perhaps sensing a bit of hostility, the waitress had the nerves to say the credit card machine was at the counter and i would have to come up here anyways.

moreover, i must agree and re-emphasize another reviewer's point that this place does not feature anything remotely resembling asian cuisine. this place serves an insulting and ignorant version of asian cuisine. some may argue that this restaurant features fusion cuisine, but the only things they have fused is crappyfoodwith crappier service.

thefoodwas exceptional, have not been disappointed with quality or presentation...although i'm afraid to eat there now as the waitress that served us had sores all over her face, hands & arms. while waiting for us to order, she was scratching her wrists and placed her fingers on the edges of plates cups and bowls.

parking: lots of parking, free

restaurant: easy to find.  ambience is good. 

service: owners are nice and service is good.  can be slow at dinner and lunch time.  

food: one of the best south asianfoodavailable in victoria.  try their shakes...very thick and delicious.  prawn rolls are to die for.  i had tried many of their dishes, hasn't been disappointed yet.  

price: good.  cheaper than some. 

conclusion: been there many times and will return many times in the future.

paradise. been going here for years, alright value, amazingfoodwith almost inhuman consistence. atmosphere is nice. service is decent and always happy to accommodate. tasty classics as well as great tasting more original ideas. love this place. being uptown and out of the way i feel this place deserves far more recognition as an asian culinary titan in victoria.

cast off for tropical island! searched for delicious, flavorful thaifoodat a great price...and found it! : ). my mother and i were in victoria for a doctor's appointment and she had received some slightly troubling news, so we were in the mood for some goodfoodbefore the long drive back to nanaimo to cheer us up.

we stopped at a starbucks to have a coffee and do a search on good ol' urbanspoon to see if we couldn't find a restaurant that had deliciousfoodat a price that would match the occasion : not a birthday or day for celebration, but a casual day needing a bit of pepping up.

we looked at american/burger restaurants, mediterranean, italian, mexican, japanese, pub, deli, but nothing caught our eye. but, then we thought about thai and how usually the portions are generous, thefoodspicy, and the price agreeable. we looked for the best thai restaurant in saanich and tropical island jumped out at us with it's awesome score of 89%! (well deserved i might add ; )

and urbanspoon does not lead us astray yet again. tropical island is everything a person could want/expect from a small, family restaurant focusing on big taste!
the decor is simple, but appealing with the uber casual booth-style seating ever available (my favorite kind of seating).

the restaurant wasn't super busy the night we visited, but there was a good number of patrons and everyone seemed to be really enjoying the food.

and so let's talk food! as i mentioned it was dee-lish!
we had the :
yu heung seafood and vegetables (plenty of seafood featuring a lot of spicy shrimp), phad thai w/ chicken (generous portions, deliciously spicy), and a thai red curry (not too spicy, but definitely left a nice zing on the tongue).
my mother and i surprised ourselves with how we couldn't stop eating, despite the fact it was a lot of food. we just kept chatting and eating away happily and before we knew it, the three generous helpings offoodwere gone. 0_0
that was ok though. we were both completely full and completely satisfied.

it's a special thing to find a new restaurant when you are hungry and looking for a place to pick up your spirits : and you find it. it just really puts a nice cap on one's day.

besides the great food, the servers were two very polite, very friendly young ladies. the chef and owner pius is a really friendly guy who was happy to speak with me. he's got a nice warm smile and it looks like he takes real pride in making deliciousfoodfor his customers. he gave me a hint for the next time i come in which i am going to pass onto my fellow urbanspoon users.

tip : 1. ask for the ribs. according to chef/owner pius they are excellent.
2. if you know you are coming in and want something unique, call in advance and ask for the "baked yellow curry" or "portugese curry" dish. it's something unique pius created by fusing thai and portugese inspirations. i'm looking forward to trying it in the near future. yums!!!

to conclude, the plates are really nice. i like that particular style. nice presentation and holds a lot of grub. ^_^
so, if you're hungry and don't need fancy decor, but instead want deliciousfoodand friendly service : look no further! cast off for tropical island!

p.s : the nifty car parked outside of the restaurant is a toyota prius c. according to pius, this cool little car can go 700 km on $30 of gas. our little beast of a ranger gets 400 km on $80 of gas. needless to say, i'm thinking hybrid for the next vehicle...

great food, prices, & atmosphere. cute place! was full of customers but still had excellent service. deliciousfood(chicken pad thai was so good!), good prices, cozy cute decor. will definitely be back.

highly recommend place to go on the island! both the services and thefoodare great, the spicy basil ribs is one of the must-try dish.

greatfoodand great service!. i've been to tropical island many times, and every time the service andfoodhave been great! very fast, always tasty, and friendly staff. the tropical beef is amazing, as is the deep fried coconut milk for desert. highly recommend!

great food!. here's my dilemma with this place...do i order the same scrumptious dish i tasted last time or should i try another menu item? so now i order both a favorite dish and something i haven't tried before. the prices are reasonable enough to do this and thefoodis excellent. i've loved every item i've tried.

the reviewer who stated this is "a bad place" is an idiot in my opinion, as is the guy who didn't like his home delivery - thefoodhere is great fusion, fresh, tasty, the service is friendly and accommodating - the chef may take extra time but i'd rather wait for goodfoodthan something rushed - if you want to be treated like you're at your mothers . go to her house for your meal!


-----15 jul, 2013-----

oh and by the way, anna, they don't do 'popcorn chicken' which you said was too salty. are you confusing them with kfc?


-----15 jul, 2013-----

i can't say enough about this place. we've been going here since they opened and the quality never changes... nor have their prices! we usually order one of the meals for two (the spring rolls are vegetarian, the shrimp straws are delightful, the green curry chicken is subtle with a refreshing hint of lime, nice steamed vegetables in a light sauce, steamed rice, with tropicsl beef - the best in the city - followed by deep fried coconut milk - to die for!) there's usually enoughfoodleft over for lunch the next day... but never enough of the tremendous dessert. -> as for the reviewer who whined about the curry not being hot enough.., all he had to do was ask, they offer chili oil or paste to those who want things hot

thefoodhere is fresh and delicious. well prepared and very good service. prices are very reasonable.

food court quality chinesefoodat twice the price!!!. about two weeks ago, my friends and i had a hankering for food. without a car, we were in the market for delivery, and the generally positive reviews for tropical island convinced us that it was a safe bet. unfortunately, review aggregates can be fickle beasts. maybe the dine-in service is better, though i can't really say.

our order was quite simple - a menu sampler for 4 and a vegetarian sampler for 2. the employee who took our order appeared to have some trouble with english, which manifested in two ways: the order took a painfully long time to place, and was, in the end, wrong. we ended up about an hour later (longer than the advertised delivery wait) with a vegetarian sampler for 4 and a menu sampler for 2, and the meat eaters among us were quite put out. after half-heartedly accepting our incorrect order at the door because we were really hungry after waiting for so long, we proceeded to eat our food. even if the meat were identifiable (we thought it was chicken or pork, but i just looked it up and it was "tropical beef"), the meal would not have been enjoyable because thefoodranged in temperature from lukewarm to cold (and my friend had no microwave). the dishes were oversalted and comparable tofoodcourt chinesefoodin terms of quality, but were extremely overpriced. no plum sauce was included with our meal, which was especially devastating.

this was genuinely the worst chinesefoodexperience i have ever had. the only thing that would have completed it would have been me contracting a bad case offoodpoisoning as a result. it would have been more worthwhile to take a ferry to vancouver, eat chinesefoodat the tsawassen ferry terminal, and then take the ferry back to victoria (etc., etc.). never again, tropical island, never again!